The Canon EOS M mirrorless system may be dead, but one of its cameras is being exhumed and reincarnated as a new model for the ongoing EOS R series. The EOS R100 is the latest of Canon’s APS-C mirrorless offerings. It features a 24.1-megapixel sensor, dual-pixel autofocus with eye-tracking, and a very compact size for $479.99 body-only, and it’s launching in July. It will also retail for $599.99 in a kit with the RF-S 18–45mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM lens or $829.99 in a two-zoom kit with the same slow lens plus an RF-S 55–210mm f/5. -7.1 IS STM telephoto lens. Launching alongside the R100 is a Canon RF 28mm f/2.8 STM pancake lens for $299.99 that’s compatible with cropped or full-frame cameras and only slightly larger than a body cap.
You can not touch this [Canon]!
On paper, the R100 is pretty much a dead ringer for the, well, dead Canon EOS M50 Mark II. It’s got the same sensor, Digic 8 processor, 2.36 million-dot OLED EVF, and cropped 4K video as the system’s EOS M swan song. But it’s also missing a few key things from that camera, things you’d normally expect in each modern camera, frankly, like an articulating screen, in-body image stabilization, webcam streaming, or any touch controls. That’s right, you tap the R100’s three-inch rear LCD screen all you want, but it doesn’t do anything.
This is certainly scraping the bottom of the barrel for budget system cameras and looks a bit puny compared to the more capable EOS R50 which sits above $679.99. But to be fair, the 2.5-year-old M50 Mark II that the R100 is based on had a starting price of nearly $800 (which perhaps speaks to why that system is dead), and for that kind of money, you can get this new model in a kit with two lenses. I’m not going to say they’re good lenses or worth the money, but there’s something naively charming about Canon trying to relive the glory days of their Canon Rebel DSLRs, a time when an entry-level DSLR was a no-brainer. . investment for anyone wanting to get started in photography or just take some decent shots of family or major life events.
But while this camera gives me a hint of nostalgia for the days when I was selling whatever was the current Rebel of the day to expecting parents and college grads, the world of cameras is a much different place now. Sure, this sub-$500 camera has an autofocus system that far exceeds anything on the market those days, but sacrificing an articulating screen and many other features that have become stakes on the table is probably a factor. decisive for someone trying to create content. today.
Perhaps the EOS R100 can do well on its aggressive pricing alone, hoping to lure beginners into a growing ecosystem of RF lenses that keeps them upgrading within the Canon family. But users may not like what they see price-wise when they look up because, in addition to the change in entry-level user behavior over these years, mid-range to higher-end cameras and lenses have only had a more specific and expensive trend.
